KL Traders Square Residences, Jalan Gombak

KL Traders Square is a new mixed development which features residential and commercial shop-office units. Located in Jalan Gombak in Kuala Lumpur, this project by SCP Group will be the next exciting development near the city centre.

Reside in KL's Most Exciting Commercial Hub

Sitting squarely on prime estate, fronting the bustling road of Jalan Gombak, KL Traders Square is set to be the most modern and exciting commercial and residential hub in its vicinity. This 5-block residential-cum-commercial development within a total of 17 acres of land is the largest new development in Jalan Gombak, which has a distance of 10 minutes drive to Kuala Lumpur city centre.

KL Traders Square is a mixed development comprising of 97 lots of 3-storey showroom shop-offices and 5 blocks of service apartments. It has a total gross development value (GDV) of RM1.645 billion, with the showroom shop-offices valued at RM395 million and the serviced apartments at RM1.25 billion. It is SCP Group’s 8th project and is the largest since the group’s property development inception in 2011.

The residences meet the requirements of today's purchasers especially from the price point of view. At RM480 per square feet onwards, it is affordable considering that it’s almost impossible to find quality developments within a 10km radius from the city centre.

There will be eight specially-designed thematic gardens sprawled over six acres on Level 8. The sky park of this size in the city is not easy to find and to top it all, it’s secured exclusively for residents only. Other features include a wide range of facilities such as six indoor badminton courts, two tennis courts, two large swimming pools and two gymnasiums. Residents will be happy to know there’s a 3-tier security access card system plus extensive CCTV surveillance in all common areas.

To-date 95% of the showroom shop-offices, which is the development's Phase 1, have been sold and response for its service apartments has been overwhelming as well. Over a short span of less than three months from the soft-launch of Phase 2A and 2B - Block A and B, more than 700 units of the 1,170 units were already booked.

Overall Development Concepts

KL Traders Square will be the largest freehold residential and commercial hub at bustling Jalan Gombak.

A large 6 acres of well-secured sky park exclusively open for residents only with more than 29 facilities and 8 thematic gardens.

Its large multi-purpose hall contains as many as 6 indoor badminton courts and 2 tennis courts.

Landscape works to be done by well-known landscape architect, WDI Design Sdn Bhd.

Developer Profile

SCP Group was formed in 1999 and is predominantly involved in property investments such as car parks and office buildings. Then, the company diversified into property development.

SCP’s property development division went on full-scale operations in early 2011 and now has an annual turnover of RM200 million. The company has under its belt five million square feet of residential and commercial developments that are either completed, underway or about to be launched.

PTLM Guide is a general guideline that could be used by an investor to gauge the concepts and sustainability of any development. The key points are outlined here for easy reference. This enables an investor to evaluate his strategy of investment based on systematic set of criterias.

In this page, we do not publish specific scores achieved by this project for any of these criterias.

A. The Entry Facts

Location, visibility and environment

Location, location and location is the key selling point of KL Traders Square. Uniquely situated under 10 minute-distance drive to the city centre, it is also surrounded by a variety of matured amenities. Particularly important that TAR University College is also 10 minutes away. High visibility as it has Jalan Gombak frontage.

"70% percentile" integrated living concept is achievable. Live and shop within. Missing components are work, play and entertain which is no issue as the location is a short drive away to the city centre and surrounding suburbs. There are 8 thematic gardens. Landscape urban greens are greatly emphasized within its generous 6-acre facilities deck on Level 8.

Density of development

The first phase service apartment launch of Block A and B have a combined total of 1,170 units. Overall, a total of 3,100 apartment units will be built over 6 blocks (including 1 block of future development) on a land acreage of 16.8 acres. 2,550 units are already approved.

Our main concern is that the density of this development is on the very high side.

Developer and branding

SCP Group has established itself as a property group with sound financial and impressive product range in recent times. The company's previous Seasons Garden @ Wangsa Maju project is more than 85% sold and Lido Residency is more than 95% sold.

Price level and price comparison

Both Block A and B has an average price range of between RM500 and RM550 psf which is affordable and fair for its location. We believe at this reasonable price range, the residences are suitable for own-stayers as well as first homebuyers looking for own home near the city centre.

(1) Setapak is an emerging suburb located near to KL city centre serving the lower-to-middle class Kuala Lumpur residents.

(2) Jalan Gombak is a highly commercialised suburb together with matured amenities. Jalan Gombak is a well known SME business address.

(3) Jalan Genting Klang has large student population catchment.

(4) Accessibility will be further improved when DUKE Highway Phase 2 is completed.

Existing demographics

Jalan Gombak is largely a mixed demographic area with lower-to-middle earners on the northern side and a moderate-majority purchasing power on the southern side. There are a significant SMEs community here. TAR University College (TARC) has a student population of about 20,000 at its Setapak campus. Sightly further north, UIAM (IIUM) Gombak Campus has about 18,000 students.

We find that Setapak is growing in popularity for working professionals and young families as affordability of living right in the heart of the city and/or established townships had become unaffordable to many.

Presence of future catalystic projects

We believe many more developments in the Sentul-Setapak-Gombak Corridor will provide room for appreciation. Particularly important is the DUKE Highway Phase 2 - Tun Razak Link which is scheduled to be completed by 2017.

We also acknowledged that the River of Life project (Setapak/Sentul/Titiwangsa) would in turn transform the entire landscape of northern Kuala Lumpur in the future, alongside several massive urban redevelopments and rejuvenation projects.

Continuity development

There will be 5 service apartment blocks in KL Traders Square. We believe Block A and B provide the greatest room for appreciation at the current price range. As a self-sustain high-volume community, this is the reason why the 97-lot of 3-storey commercial showroom shop offices have achieved more than 90% take-up rates.

From our observation, it is important to note that Jalan Gombak will see many more newer affordable and high-end developments in coming years, of which only the high-end residentials will have prices higher than KL Traders Square when launched in the future.

Land tenure

Freehold.

Transit oriented development (if applicable)

The project is not a transit-oriented development. As a result, traffic planning for Jalan Gombak is vital for future commutation. There is a bus service RapidKL U10 service on Jalan Gombak but the frequency is not satisfactory todate.

Integrated retail concept (if applicable)

The residences sit above strata-titled 3-storey showroom retail shop-offices. We think these commercial shops will fit nicely the needs of all residents here, especially food and beverage businesses. However, management will not have control over the trade mix in these shops.

Its relatively benchmark pricing for Jalan Gombak significantly increases its competitor risk against other projcts with lower per square feet. Competition is relatively high from several upcoming projects such as SkyArena in Air Panas, Setapak and other standalone projects within the Sentul-Setapak-Gombak corridor as well as Wangsa Maju.

We noted that EkoTitiwangsa on Jalan Pahang will be going for RM700 psf and above which is 30% higher than KL Traders Square on psf-to-psf basis.

B. Product Design Buy Factors

Practical unit layout design

We noted efficient space optimisation has been given to all three bedrooms, two bathrooms and the wash area/yard. For the 940 sf unit type, we like the additional utility room (ventilated) which can either be used for storage or study room.

We noted there is a High Tension Cable pylons cutting across the northern site boundary. The setback between the nearest tower blocks (Block B and C) will be approximately 30m. The height of the pylon is estimated to be 60m.

Fittings and furnishings (if applicable)

Standard bare unit, but two air-conditioning split units provided for living and master bedroom. This provide flexibility to owners to perform their own renovation when required.

Sufficiency of parking bay and carpark allocation

1 carpark provided for Level 18 and below. 2 carparks provided for Level 19 and above. A total of 4,922 side-by-side carparks excluding tandem carparks will be housed in a 5-level parking podum beneath the towers.

We noted a possible insufficiency of carparks for the units Level 18 and below. We like that the commercial shops parking will be at ground and hence separated from the residential parking.

Design of corridor, corridor spaces and ventilation

Natural ventilation and a central lift lobby. A typical floor in Block A and B has a total of 6 lifts. Capacity of each passenger lift is 15 persons while the service/Bomba/stretcher lift is 17 persons. The lifts are high speed at 3.0 mps or 3.5 mps. Waiting time is expected to be moderate.

Availability of proper refuse area

Available and enclosed away from the central lift lobby. Refuse will be cleaned on alternate days.

Variety of facilities, green and open spaces- Example: For families, children-friendly facilities are to be considered

6 acres of facility deck. More than 29 facilities. 8 thematic gardens, 5 different kinds of pool including an Olympic-sized 50m swimming pool. There is a beachside for an infinity pool. There are two gymnasium rooms in this development. Also provided are a 1km cycling path, 6 badminton courts and 2 tennis courts.

Reasonability of maintenance fees based on offered facilities over density

The advantage of higher density is lower maintenance fees on average basis. Here we noted RM0.20 psf inclusive of sinking fund for a very generous 6-acre facility deck and a 1km jogging pathway. We noted that the 1st year maintenance fee is Free.

Despite its open concept perimeter (to allow commercial viability), the residences will have a standard 3-tier security with 24-hour CCTV, 24-hour Visitor registration and Access Card System to parking area and lift lobby.